Music note emoji vs music note symbols
There are two kinds of music notes. The music note emoji (one note) and (several notes) are colourful pictures that look different on iPhone, Android and Windows. The music note symbols are plain text characters: they take the colour and font of the text around them, which is why they look neat in a bio, a username or a song title.
is a quarter note, an eighth note, two beamed eighth notes and beamed sixteenth notes. They have been in Unicode since version 1.1 in 1993, so almost every phone and computer can show them. For a softer, aesthetic look, use the text notes; for something bright and obvious, use .
Music symbols and their meanings
Sheet music has its own symbols, and Unicode includes a whole block of them. The treble or G clef marks the higher notes, the bass or F clef the lower ones, and the C clef sits in between. Sharp raises a note by a half step, flat lowers it, and natural cancels both; and are the double sharp and double flat.
Note values run from the whole note through the half note and quarter note to the eighth and sixteenth ; rests such as and mark silence. Dynamics tell you how loud: piano (soft), forte (loud), crescendo and decrescendo. The fermata says hold the note, and are repeat signs. These characters come from the Musical Symbols block added in Unicode 3.1, and some older fonts show them as empty boxes.
Instrument emoji: guitar, piano, drums and more
Every common instrument has an emoji: guitar , piano keys , drum , saxophone , trumpet , violin , banjo , accordion , long drum , maracas , flute , and the newest pair, harp (Emoji 16.0, 2024) and trombone (Emoji 17.0, 2025). Newer emoji may show as a box until your phone gets the update.
For the rest of the studio: microphone for singing and karaoke, studio microphone for podcasts and recording, headphones for listening, control knobs and level slider for mixing, radio, CD and DVD.
Music emoji for concerts, dancing and playlists
Going out? and are the tickets, the singer on stage, the sign of the horns for rock and metal, for dancing and the mirror ball for a disco or club night.
For playlists and song captions, the media buttons read like a player: play, play or pause, next track, previous track, repeat, repeat one song and shuffle. is turned up loud, is muted.
Symbols
116Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
How to use them
5 situationsClick to copyMusic Emoji & Note Symbols combos
14Worth knowing
- The music sharp sign is a different character from the number sign #: the sharp has slanted horizontal lines and upright verticals, while # has horizontal lines and slanted verticals.
- The text notes were in Unicode 1.1 in 1993, long before emoji; and only became standard emoji in Unicode 6.0 in 2010.
- 〽️ the part alternation mark is a Japanese sign that marks where a singer's part begins in a song or chant.
- , the sound recording copyright symbol, is printed on album covers to mark the rights in the recording itself, separate from for the song.
Questions people ask
7How do I copy and paste music note symbols?
Tap any symbol in the grid to copy it, or select it in the text: . Then paste it into your bio, message or document.
What is the music note emoji?
There are two: musical note (a single note) and musical notes (several notes). Both mean music, singing or a song you like.
What is the difference between and ?
is one note and often marks a single song or humming; is several notes and suggests music playing or singing along. People use them almost interchangeably.
How do I type a music note symbol on my keyboard?
On Windows, Alt13 gives and Alt14 gives with the numeric keypad. On a Mac or phone, it is quickest to copy them from this page or use the emoji picker.
What are music symbols and their meanings?
treble clef, bass clef, sharp, flat, natural, whole note, quarter note, quarter rest, forte (loud), piano (soft), fermata (hold) and repeat signs.
Why does the treble clef show as a box?
lives in Unicode's Musical Symbols block, which some fonts don't include. It shows on most current phones and browsers; on older systems, are the safe alternatives.
What are good music emoji combos?
for listening, for singing, for rock, for dancing and for a song on repeat.
